It is important that in veterinary work, handling procedures can be made more efficient to help reduce stress and injuries among cattle. This is because handling stresses have been found to reduce conception rates, suppress immunity and raise levels of cortisol. Furthermore, handling stress will reduce weight gain and increase shrink (Zavy, Juniewicz, Phillips, & Von Tungeln, 1992). Therefore, handling cattle in a well-designed facility can be key towards reducing the heart rate of the cattle and removing stressors obtained from past experiences. Moreover, weaner cattle that are used to smooth handling will have fewer bruises in the course of marketing as opposed to those which have not. This paper looks at the design of cattle head gates and other facilities for the safe handling of cattle.
Cattle Perception and Design
To understand an efficient method of design for the cattle, one needs to understand the characteristics of cattle unique to them. They have 360 degree views and are sensitive to harsh contrasts of light and darkness in handling areas. Therefore, illumination in handling areas should be even, and limited sudden changes in the floor levels and textures. Since cattle are also more perceptive to noise, banging metals cause the cattle to balk and become agitated (Kilgour, Matthews, Temple, & Foster, 1983). As a result, rubber stops placed on gates as well as squeeze chutes can be helpful. If power devices should be installed to facilitate the closing and opening of the squeeze chutes, silencing devices are also required.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Prevention of Balking
Because of cattle photosensitivity, a shadow that falls on an alley can cause balking since the lead animal will not cross the shadow. Bright spots of sunlight, a puddle of water and drain gates will also cause balking. Therefore, the race must not contain any crowd pens or drains. Handlers must as well be careful of causing any moving shadows. Cattle can approach bright lights, so long as this light is not blinding. Therefore, lamps directed onto the interior of a truck can be helpful for unloading at night, but loading ramps facing the sun will not help because of the blinding light. Cattle will more readily move in a single file into a race rather than be driven under a roof into a building. Because of the light changes, one must not place the shade right over the junction between a race and the pen.
Cattle will equally balk at flapping objects. A coat hang over a fence or the reflection of a truck’s bumper could cause the cattle to refuse to approach. As such, handlers should be able to observe distractions to cattle movement when the cattle are calm. One must note that the problem with balking is that when one animal balks, it will spread to all consecutive animals. Therefore, prodding should only be done to animals when there is an opening. Additionally, dogs must not be used except in instances where there is sufficient space, since dog bites to animals are highly stressful (Vowles & Hollier, 1982).
Considering the above, of necessity is to reduce animal stress when moving animals. The construction of cattle head gates necessitates the reduction of stress as animals move from one area to another.
Design of Cattle Head Gates
Gates can be found at different places, including junctions from the crowd pen to single file race areas. A crowd gate can also be found in the pen, where cattle are prevented from moving backwards in the single line file. One major characteristic of any gate is their solidity. Solid gates prevent the animals from accessing people and distractions with their wide angle vision and therefore balk. As shown in the figure 1 below, solid fences and gates prevent the cattle from agitation. Agitation comes about as cattle see alternative routes in partially solid races and gates but cannot use such alternatives. Therefore, it is necessary that the gate leading to a dip must be solid. This is because meshed gates at the dip could encourage excited animals to push through it instead of going into the dip. Nonetheless, meshed gates are desirable for the junction area between the single-line race and the crowd pen as animals are encouraged to push through and move in.
Considering the cost of construction for steel corrals, it would be very expensive to construct everything (holding pens, sorting pens and alleys) with solid fences. Therefore, fences built from a pipe could have a 30-60cm wide rail that is placed at the cow-eye height to ease movement and prevent ramming from excited cattle. This is especially the case in Brahman and Zebu cattle are kept, since these breeds are more excitable and less difficult to block. Belly rails are also recommended for handling European breeds of excitable cattle. Where the construction has made use of wood planks, a belly rail is no longer necessary as the planks have provided sufficient visual barriers.
As can be seen from the figure, the gate from the single file race to the crowd pen is grilled in nature, allowing the animal to push through it in excitement as it transits into the crowd pen. Nonetheless, the movement within the single file race is obstructed by a solid fence to reduce visual impediments to movement and prevent balking.
Using a Curved Race
The curved race has been found to be more efficient than the straight race for two main reasons. The cattle will only see the truck or the squeeze chute when they are almost in it. Additionally, this curved race will take advantage of the cattle’s natural tendency to circle the handler. Circular races also offer the greatest advantage for cattle waiting in line for a vaccination since there is no difference in run-through time. Nonetheless, where cattle are in a round pen and need to be lined up, there is quicker response time to a curved race as opposed to a straight race. In fact, research has shown that curved races can reduce the reaction time for cattle by 50% (Vowles & Hollier, 1982).
Additionally, the handler should be placed at a 45-60 degree position from the animal’s shoulder when it is moving. The curved walkway provides the handler will sufficient movement during the animal’s movement within the race to be at this angle. Considering figure 2, one could see the advantage of the curved race with regards to supervision from the handler.
In different jurisdictions, there are different methodologies for the creation of vaccination areas for cattle. Australia and South America give veterinary treatment within the single-file race. In the US and Europe, the animals are treated while being held in a head gate or squeeze chute.
Dimensions
In the case of feedlot, the recommended internal race radius is between 3.5 meters to 6 meters. The curved race must be sufficiently long to engage the cattle’s following behavior. Therefore, the minimum length for the curved raceway should be 9 meters. The raceway should equally not be too long since some cattle normally lie down and get trampled where there is an extremely long walkway. During race design, one should be careful to avoid sharply turning the race area into the crowd pen since the sharp turn will make the transition appear to the cattle as a dead end. As such, balking may occur. The design of the raceway should be such that the cattle could see two body lengths ahead. Curved races could be constructed from wood, steel or concrete. Figure 3 shows the possible methods for the construction of a wood or concrete race, including series of straight sections. A single board is also used to prod animals on the raceway by the handler.
In conclusion, the construction of head gates and other sections of the animal shelter should be such that they meet the needs of the animals against stressing. As seen in the introductory section, stressors can have adverse effects on cattle. Due notice should be taken of these factors.
References
Grandin, T. (1997). The design and construction of facilities for handling cattle. Livestock Production Science, 49(2) , 103-119.
Kilgour, R., Matthews, L. R., Temple, W., & Foster, M. (1983). Using operant test results for decisions on cattle welfare. Human and Animal Bond Conference. Minneapolis, MN: Human and Animal Bond Conference.
Vowles, W. J., & Hollier, T. J. (1982). The influence of cattle yard design on the movement of animals. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production (p. 597). Australia: Australian Society of Animal Production.
Zavy, M., Juniewicz, P., Phillips, W., & Von Tungeln, D. (1992). Effects of initial restraint, weaning and transport stress on baseline and ACTHstimulated cortisol responses in beef calves of different genotypes. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 53 , 551-557.
